Joe Arpaio and Andrew Thomas are teaching the rest of the nation how to terrorize illegal immigrants

"Arpaio is a clown. A clown that's good for the times, but a clown. Thomas is smart. He's fiercely intelligent and civilized, but he's also vile and hateful," he says. "Arpaio has an obsessive need for public approval and media attention, and that's been true since the beginning. The green bologna, Tent City — it's all designed to keep him in the spotlight. Right around the Haab incident, it became clear to him that this was the next logical escalation. His primary motivation is seeing his face on television. Thomas is a different case. Thomas truly understands his actions and his manipulation of the sheriff is very purposeful."

Around the same time, the Arizona Legislature passed a law aimed at stopping human smuggling. Jonathan Paton, a Republican from Tucson, says he sponsored the bill with the thought that it would be aimed at the organized crime rings that traffic humans on the border, not at their cargo.

The bill makes it illegal for a person to intentionally smuggle human beings for profit or commercial purposes and defines smuggling as the transportation of people who are known, or could reasonably be suspected, to be unlawfully in the state.

Morgan Bellinger

Phoenix lawyer Daniel Ortega

Morgan Bellinger

Activist Alfredo Gutierrez works the crowd outside M.D. Pruitt's furniture store, the site of a weekly immigration protest.

Paton remembers the committee sessions leading up to the bill's vote as intense.

"There was a lot of debate. They were grilling me to see if this could be used to go after someone driving a gardener around and all these different things. I have a district that goes up to the border. I'm not soft on border issues," he says. "But this [going after those being smuggled] was not part of my plan."

Thomas didn't care. In September 2005, he issued an official opinion on the law. Under Thomas' interpretation, anyone who pays a "coyote" to guide them to America is guilty of conspiracy to commit smuggling, a felony offense that puts the smuggled on the same level as the violent criminals who bring them here.

Of the 18 or so anti-trafficking state laws nationwide, none has this scope.

Florida, a state with a large trafficking problem, even ensures that victims are provided with state-funded services.

Still, Thomas' political moves have resonated in other states. Earlier this year, Oklahoma passed a comprehensive immigration package filled with laws modeled after those in Arizona. State Representative Randy Terrill, who authored the bill and brags that his is one of only three states truly cracking down on illegal immigration — the other two, according to Terrill are Georgia and Arizona — says he's looking at Arizona's law for guidance.

Two months after Thomas issued his opinion on smuggling, he hosted a conference on illegal immigration. The Southwest Conference on Illegal Immigration, Border Security and Crime was created under the guise of exploring the issue of illegal immigration, but its true purpose was to grab national attention.

The list of panelists included John Leo, a former New York Times columnist, and Kris Kobach, former counsel to John Ashcroft. Tamar Jacoby of the Manhattan Institute was also one of Thomas' invited panelists.

In a speech at the conference, Thomas made his feelings toward immigrants clear.

"We do, as a society, risk being turned into a different society that is less appealing by tolerating what is occurring," he said. Later in the speech, he went on, "I think we're dealing with something that fundamentally changes our democracy, not only in terms of our sense of human rights, [but in] the fact we are tolerating a sub-class of people."

Next, Thomas lobbied hard to pass Proposition 100, the statewide measure that denies bail to illegal immigrants accused, not convicted, of felonies. Since the measure passed, other states have followed suit. In Colorado, a bill to deny bail to illegal immigrants is part of a package of legislation for 2008 and in May of this year, Oklahoma's governor signed the Oklahoma Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act, which denies bail to illegal immigrants and also fines employers who knowingly hire them. Similar measures are under consideration in Nebraska and Idaho.

Oklahoma representative Terrill says Arizona's Prop 100 was a model for the bail provision of his state's act.

"I snatched the no bail provision from you guys," he says.

Thomas fought the judiciary tooth and nail to see it enforced as harshly as possible, going so far as to have attorney Dennis Wilenchik attempt to publicly humiliate judges who refused to fall in line.

Tamar Jacoby says these kinds of state actions are only making the problem worse.

"Arizona is the place where emotions are running highest in the whole country," she says. "Arizona is like an infected tooth. It's inflamed and everything makes it worse."

By the spring of 2006, Thomas had successfully added an important weapon to his arsenal — a guy with his own arsenal, Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Local police departments weren't willing to enforce immigration or state smuggling laws, but Arpaio was.

But despite his posturing on the topic, Arpaio has yet to truly dismantle any organized smuggling rings.

In fact, he stumbled upon his biggest bust to date by accident, when his deputies picked up several barefoot, shirtless immigrants running through the streets of El Mirage.

man yall should just shut ur faces....someone should push joe off a building or something. Arizona sucks ass dude, yall are all dang rasist, kinda sad that you people are still around....VIVA MEXICO CABRONES!!!!!!!!!! dude i cross that border like nothing hahaha

What an offensive story. The News Times should think twice when writing such a negative article about Sheriff Arpaio. The article is very one-sided. Sheriff Arpaio is doing his job very efficiently. Seeing how many times he's been reelected, I would be willing to say that the voters of Maricopa County would agree with me. Daniela's story is not unique in the states that share our border with Mexico. She is breaking our laws. It seems to me that the author's stance in this article wishes to reward this irresponsible mother that is here illegally. She wishes to share in our country's prosperity and yet undermines it citizens by not becoming a legal citizen. She and her family are a financial burden on Maricopa County. I have no sympathy for her inability to get a full night's rest, or the fact that she doesn't feel comfortable driving on our roads. Daniela has assumed this burden. She willingly risks herself and her family to possible deportation. The Federal Government has chosen not to peruse or prosecute the vast majority of these illegals. The 10th Amendment of the Constitution makes explicit the idea that the Federal Government may exercise only the powers granted in The Constitution. The Federal Government can compel states to enforce federal laws, or in the case, not enforce laws. Illegal immigration is a direct attack on states sovereignty; states have an obligation to their legal citizens to protect that sovereignty. We as a country should be honored to have a statesman like Sheriff Arpaio enforcing our country's laws. Texas would greatly benefit from having more people in our elected offices with values similar to Andrew Thomas and Joe Arpaio.

I am Very Proud of Shreiff JOE for protecting all of us Honest AMERICANS.... ILLEGAL IS ILLEGAL... SEND THEM ALL HOME IF THEY DONT RESPESCT OUR LAWS & OUR AMERICAN FLAG & MOST OF ALL LEARN ENGLISH WE ARE NOT IN MEXICO NOR DO WE WANT TO BE!!!!

I am Very Proud of Shreiff JOE for protecting all of us Honest AMERICANS.... ILLEGAL IS ILLEGAL... SEND THEM ALL HOME IF THEY DONT RESPESCT OUR LAWS & OUR AMERICAN FLAG & MOST OF ALL LEARN ENGLISH WE ARE NOT IN MEXICO NOR DO WE WANT TO BE!!!!

I am Very Proud of Shreiff JOE for protecting all of us Honest AMERICANS.... ILLEGAL IS ILLEGAL... SEND THEM ALL HOME IF THEY DONT RESPESCT OUR LAWS & OUR AMERICAN FLAG & MOST OF ALL LEARN ENGLISH WE ARE NOT IN MEXICO NOR DO WE WANT TO BE!!!!

after reading approx. half of the comments it's apparent there are more criminal's in phoenix than honest people. you have a top law enforcement ofc. that is trying to do the job he was elected for and then you only talk trash about him. why don't all you criminal's take all your illegal criminal friend's/family's and go back across which ever border you crossed illegaly! see ya!!!!!!!!

after reading approx. half of the comments it's apparent there are more criminal's in phoenix than honest people. you have a top law enforcement ofc. that is trying to do the job he was elected for and then you only talk trash about him. why don't all you criminal's take all your illegal criminal friend's/family's and go back across which ever border you crossed illegaly! see ya!!!!!!!!

So you're scared to leave your house because you are in a country ILLEGALLY!?! Surely you jest! If you are that scared you need to go back to your own country. No matter how horrible it is there at least you are allowed to walk around. Remember Joe is watching... He WILL get you.... the community is watching YOU.

I hear about all the illegals complaining about the horriable conditions they have here in America. But Why Do They Stay? The whole point it is HORRIABLE is so that they will get legal or leave. It is sad how some are treated but its also sad that I have to pay for there medical bills and so on... And They CAN report crimes, I guess they never heard of REMAINING ANONYMOUS... THERE ILLEGAL THIS IS WHY THEY KEEP COMMING HERE BECAUSE PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO STAND UP FOR THEM. I wish that Sheriff was here in Cali maybe we could flush them out, or they can stay in there houses. All illegals are not bad but sosme are. There is a sharp rise in illegals killing and robbing people here in this country because there finger prints are not on file and they think they can get away with the crimes.

I sure wish we had more Sheriff Joe's in Texas!!! I want to know why anyone from Arizona even considers John McCain? It's a puzzle to me. I live in Texas and we fought McCain all last year on his crazy amnesty bills. Does his temper not bother you? Does his disdain for republicans bother you? Does the fact that he graduated at the bottom of his Annapolis class not bother you? Does it bother you that his wife was caught stealing drugs from her own charity? Does the vision of him debating either the brilliant Hillary or Obama not bother you? (The thought embarrasses me) Do you like high taxes? Does it bother you that he talks about fighting the jihadists but he fought against securing our borders? His popularity in your state remains a mystery to so many of us. Right now the media fails to talk about his many flaws but not to worry, the Dems will talk about them if he gets the monimation.

At least the 40-50 guys on along Mesa drive and Broadway in mesa, az aren't afraid to come out every morning. How can a person who isn't authorized to work, pay state or federal taxes? You have no Social Security number.

And yes legal and illegal immigrants crowd the CPS offices valley wide for assistance, go see for yourself. And all the free clinics and social service locations have the channel on telemundo! Why? They are being catered to just as any other busisness caters to a Niche market. By definition, then, a business that focuses on a niche market is addressing a need for a product or service that is not being addressed by mainstream.

Now .... I hope the following 14 reasons are forwarded over and over again until they are read so many times that the reader gets sick of reading them. I have included the URL's for verification of all the following facts.

1. $11 Billion to $22 billion is spent on welfare to illegal aliens each year.

10. The illegal aliens in the United States have a crime rate that's two and a half times that of white non-illegal aliens. In particular, their children, are going to make a huge additional crime problem in the US

11. During the year of 2005 there were 4 to 10 MILLION illegal aliens that crossed our Southern Border also, as many as 19,500 illegal aliens from Terrorist Countries. Millions of pounds of drugs, cocaine, meth, heroine and marijuana, crossed into the U. S from the Southern border.

12. The National Policy Institute, "estimated that the total cost of mass deportation would be between $206 and $230 billion or an average cost of between $41 and $46 billion annually over a five year period."

Are we THAT stupid??? If this doesn't bother you then just delete the message. If, on the other hand, if it does raise the hair on the back of your neck, I hope you forward it to every legal resident in the country including every representative in Washington, D.C. - five times a week for as long as it takes to restore some semblance of intelligence in our policies and enforcement thereof

You break our laws and you think you should be rewarded for it? When a US citizen can go to Mexico and pull these same stunts and not be shot, beaten or thrown in prison (oh, not by coyotes, but by the Federal Police), then you can expect parity. Until then, get the hell out of our country.

I hear very ignorant people commenting on this article. What person would choose a life of fear and hardship? The reason people are fleeing Mexico is due to even greater fears and hardships that they are facing there. We are blessed here in the United States that we do not have organized crimes that come into our homes or businesses, harass us, and take our belongings on a regular basis. I fear that this may come to our country or become of our country. Why do we fear Mexican people, when we should be fearing those who come into our country legally to live amongst us and have plans of terrorism?

My point is that this country is composed of immigrants, legal and illegal. White Americans are not Native to this land. Why don't we send all them back to Europe? The time will come when us, Americans, will be immigrants, and I hope the world will show us more understanding and mercy than we are showing to others. May God show you the same hospitality when you arrive at his footsteps.

People may call it what they want but the truth is: The Bible commands us to be right and justice with strangers and aliens. This includes anyone in our country. Legal or supposed illegal. This state and this sheriffs is disobeying God.

Malachi 3:5 And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the LORD of host.

Are we immune to God. Shall we tempt Him. We were once aliens ourselves. Have you ever been the outcast. Have you ever been rejected. I amnot a mexican so I say this unbiasly. People need to know what God thinks. The state is not God, the Country is not God. The state and the country need to follow God. Remember where you came from and have compasison on those who are in your shoes.

My parents were both immigrants who came to the United States legally and went through the immigration process and earned their citizenship. I am very proud of them for doing so. I live among many illegal immigrants and have seen how they have manipulated the system for many years, trash our neighborhoods and deserts, kill our police officers and have the attitude that we owe them citizenship because they have smuggled themselves over illegally. Now it is finally catching up to them. I don't care if they cannot sleep at night for fear of deportation or are worried that one of their family members may not come home. They came here illegally and have to take responsibility for their actions. What if we went over and tried the same thing in their country? I don't think the Mexican government would treat us humanely and would make sure that we got our legal rights.

These people need to stop blaming everyone else for their problems. They broke the law, correct? They are Illegal, thats breaking the law. Now they can't sleep & on & on. Anyone who breaks the law has to pay for their actions, sometimes children also pay for their parents mistake. Do it right and you won't have all these problems. ButSTOP BLAMING EVERYONE FOR YOUR OWN ACTIONS...

I find it incredibly irritating when I see people say that illegal immigrants are "stealing jobs from HARD-working AMERICANS."

#1: They are not "stealing" jobs. They are doing the jobs that "HARD-working" Americans don't want like cleaning toilets, picking oranges, etc. Americans just want more money for those jobs which will in turn make goods more expensive. BUT if the Americans are so hard-working and actually go to college like they are given the opportunity to, I doubt they want to work flipping burgers at McDonalds anyway. That would be a total waste of a college degree.

#2: AMERICANS, like someone else said, is not a title limited to people in the United States. It includes Canada, Mexico, Central AMERICA and South AMERICA. Therefore, immigrants who come from south of the border are also AMERICAN. So stop calling yourselves that.

#3: READ ALL OF THE COMMENTS BEFORE YOU POST ONE because you obviously did not see the one that states that they are also taxpayers and are not sucking up all of the medical resources.

Get over yourselves and stop being so ignorant. It just leads to racism. I am sure that 90% of people against immigration think everyone who has dark skin is illegal.

Ummmm.......FYI the Joker hasn't made a dent in the illegal population. By his own stats he's arrested 1,500 illegals in the past 2 years. Do the math, it doesn't add up. Divide 41 million dollars in lawsuits by the number of illegals he's arreated and you are really getting your money's worth.

While I am concerned about the deaths and lack of adequate medical care in the Maricopa County Jails, I am 100% behind Sheriff Joe and all his other efforts to punish and eradicate crime in the Valley, espeically his efforts to apprehend and deport the hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens who are in our country illegally and stealing jobs, housing, benefits, medical and social services from legal citizens and taxpayers.

Shame on the New Times for defending illegal aliens at the expense of taxpaying citizens.

They're disproportionately contributing to the crime, gang acitivity, overcrowding, traffic, air pollution, scarce jobs and high housing prices in the valley, all while being here in violation of our laws.

Why the hell does the New Times continue to use it's journalistic influence to defend illegality and lawlessness?

The only conclusion I can come to is that the New Times are closet promoters of anarcy, have no respect for our laws or the will of the people, is thus, an agent of sociopathic decomposition.

If she's so scared, let her go back to Mexico...with the rest of them...why would anyone wanna stay in a place where (as Daniela says) she's terrified - sorry but I have no pity on her or her children (all anchor babies I'm sure)...she should stay in her country, get her visa, and do the legal paperwork to become a citizen...then she won't have to live in fear...otherwise, get out...

I'm sure she's not in fear when she goes to the doctor with her free medical coverage, nor her foodstamps at Food City, nor the other benefits I'm sure she's collecting from us hard working CITIZENS....

Get lost with the sympathy. I have none for criminals. Nor should any upstanding AMERICAN CITIZEN....It's not about race - its not about ethnicity, its about the LAW...why can't you bleeding hearts get that straight.....Sheriff Joe and Andrew Thomas are doing what no one else will do....protecting our fair state, and following the LAW...Go home Daniela, where you belong, and come back the right way...deal with the paperwork, and become a citizen, then you won't have to be "afraid" to leave your home...you will be welcome with open arms....All of them need to stop breaking our laws, getting benefits that WE are not entitled to, and come here the right way...very simple...

It is truly amazing to see all of these comments by people who are hysterically hell bent on keeping this nation lily white and "pure." You people have your heads in the sand. Illegal immigrants are not criminals. 95% of them come to this country in search of a better life...and they make our lives better and easier too. This so called war on immigration and terrorism is impossible to win. Just as sure as the war on drugs was a losing war, this is a waste of tax dollars and political focus. This issue is pounded over and over again by the racist right wingers who try and detract your focus from the real issues at hand...Health Care, The War in Iraq, and countless other Domestic issues.

It is beyond me how this country is content with being ignorant and uninformed. Why do we refuse to learn another language? Why are we so far behind other countries in so many areas? For ages 25-34 years old we rank NINTH among industrialized nations that has at least a high school degree. And to think...illegal immigrants want to come here to educate themselves and better themselves and you people won't even take advantage of the opportunity you have. You people are PATHETIC!!!!!

As the presidential debate deepens, or gets more desperate, it won�t be surprising to hear more and more candidates who are scared of the immigration issue spouting off just plain WRONG information.

What�s sad is that they and their staff are relying on sources whose only intent is not to present the facts but drive public opinion against any facet of humanely resolving the plight of undocumented immigrants.

Whenever studies are released actually supporting the true facts, these same sources are quick to pounce on it and tear it apart like African lions devouring a kill. They accuse the study�s authors of being biased or twisting the statistics in their favor.

So, it�s more than gratifying when two different entities on two different coasts of the nation, independently release studies that say the same thing: �Undocumented immigrants are not a burden on society.�

This week in California, the University of California�s School of Public Health released a report that found undocumented Latino immigrants do not cause a drag on the U.S. healthcare system as they are always being accused.

In fact, the vast majority of undocumented immigrants don�t even have a regular doctor or healthcare provider and only visit the ER as a last resort.

�Low rates of use of health-care services by Mexican immigrants and similar trends among other Latinos do not support public concern about immigrants� overuse of the health care system,� the researchers wrote.

�Undocumented individuals demonstrate less use of health care than U.S.-born citizens and have more negative experiences with the health care that they have received,� they said.

It�s a finding that is repeated in today�s released study by the Immigration Policy Center (IPC), the think tank of the American Immigration Law Foundation.

The IPC study found that:

per capita health care expenditures were 55 percent lower for immigrants than for natives in 1998. On average, immigrants received about $1,139 in health care, compared with $2,546 for native-born residents. Although all immigrants are eligible for emergency medical services, they had lower expenditures for emergency room visits, doctor�s office visits, outpatient hospital visits, inpatient hospital visits, and prescription drugs.

But the IPC study doesn�t stop there.

It also addresses the accusations by defamation critics who say undocumented immigrants overuse government services, increase the poverty rate and don�t pay taxes. The IPC authors are puzzled at where the defamation critics are getting their �supposed� information.

Immigration increases the U.S. Gross Domestic Product by approximately $37 billion each year. And national and state studies find that immigrants pay more in taxes than they use in government services. As for undocumented immigrants, it is a myth that they do not pay taxes. Up to 75% of them pay federal and state income and payroll taxes and all immigrants (legal and undocumented) pay sales taxes and property taxes.

while the poverty rate for U.S.-born citizens increased slightly, it fell slightly for immigrants. And, as immigrants integrate into U.S. society, they work their way out of poverty. For example, the children and grandchildren of Hispanic immigrants have made great strides in closing the economic gap with native-born whites by getting an education, getting better jobs, and earning higher incomes than their parents and grandparents. As a case study, homeownership reflects the economic advancement of the immigrant population, and, in California, the homeownership rates for Latino immigrants rose from 16.4 percent among those who arrived in the U.S. in the last 10 years to 64.6 percent among those who have lived here for 30 years or more.

Some immigration critics exaggerate immigrants� welfare use by measuring the welfare costs of �immigrant households.� These studies include welfare benefits paid to U.S.-citizen children as �immigrant welfare costs� if any member of the child�s household is an immigrant. But, in fact, most legal immigrants are not eligible for publicly financed benefits and undocumented immigrants are not eligible for any public benefits. In addition, the participation rates of non-citizens in some federal benefits programs have been declining.

Putting this study out there is like dangling fresh meat in front of those same hungry lions who can�t digest what the truth is.

Luckily, there�s a whole herd ready to deliver the same message until either the lions give up or wake up � their choice.

I agree with Christopher. I arrived with my mother from Poland at the age of 3-1/2. Became a citizen at age 7. It has nothing to do with racism or the color of ones skin. Every u.s. citizen not born here had to become one legally, that's what this is about. If you are here illegally, that is not anyone's problem but your own. I am in America, no one post information in English and Polish. If you can't read or speak English, then learn it, why should I have to learn Spanish and why should that be the second language prosted everywhere? That's a bunch of garbage. So no, its not haters, or just mass hatred. It's this is American and follow the laws if you want to be here. Just like we had to when we came here. Simple as that.

In fact, the increasing number of illegal aliens coming into the United States is forcing the closure of hospitals, spreading previously vanquished diseases and threatening to destroy America's prized health-care system, says a report in the spring issue of the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons.

"The influx of illegal aliens has serious hidden medical consequences," writes Madeleine Pelner Cosman, author of the report. "We judge reality primarily by what we see. But what we do not see can be more dangerous, more expensive, and more deadly than what is seen."

According to her study, 84 California hospitals are closing their doors as a direct result of the rising number of illegal aliens and their non-reimbursed tax on the system.

"Anchor babies," the author writes, "born to illegal aliens instantly qualify as citizens for welfare benefits and have caused enormous rises in Medicaid costs and stipends under Supplemental Security Income and Disability Income."

Malaria was obliterated, but now is re-emerging in Texas. Polio was eradicated from America, but now reappears in illegal immigrants as do intestinal parasites.

Leprosy now is endemic to northeastern states because illegal aliens and other immigrants brought leprosy from India, Brazil, the Caribbean and Mexico.

The Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons report includes a strong prescription for protecting the health of Americans:

Closing America's borders with fences, high-tech security devices and troops. Rescinding the U.S. citizenship of "anchor babies." Punishing the aiding and abetting of illegal aliens as a crime. An end to amnesty programs.

Illegal Immigration IS A CRIME! PERIOD! Why waste the space of "New Times" with this BS sob story?? This article just made me roll my eyes and go "Please lady, you did it to yourself"!! If I knew where you lived I would call "Illegal immigration hotline".Where is the illegal immigration hotline nubmer anyways!??Yeah, she had her kids in American so they can become American citizens hoping this would help her case which it didn't! I think that is how it goes! Come to the USA illegaly, get pregnant & you will become a citizen. Oh, and they benefit you will food stamps etc & screw out a hard working American in the process!

Behind many of the nation�s millions of undocumented workers are someone else's documents. To get a job, illegal immigrants need a Social Security number, and they often borrow one. U.S. citizens are being forced to share their identities with undocumented immigrants to give corporate America a steady supply of cheap labor!

"Illegal immigration": refers to immigration across national borders in a way that violates the immigration laws of the destination country! There is the word Daniela! You are ion this country Illegaly! I have no sympathy for you! Cry me a river! man if your read this article & her "POOR PITY ME" article all I can do is laugh! YOU DID IT TO YOURSELF!!!

Under this definition, an illegal immigrant is a foreigner who either has illegally crossed an international political border, be it by land, sea, or air, or a foreigner who has entered a country legally but then overstays his/her Visa in order to live and/or work there. In politics, the term may imply a larger set of social issues and time constraints with disputed consequences in areas such as economy, social welfare, education, health care, slavery, prostitution, crime, legal protections, voting rights, public services, and human rights. Illegal emigration would be leaving a country in a manner that violates the laws of the country being exited.

Illegal Immigration Counters - Home Page The #1 site for real-time illegal immigration statistics, live counters, MONEY WIRED TO MEXICO, SOCIAL SERVICES COSTS, ILLEGALS IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS, Etc!!!

My mother was immigrant but came to this country LEGALLY! My mother came through Ellis Island! My mother who was a Polish emigrant became a naturalized citizen of the United States on March 22, 1955.

I think if your an "illegal immigrant" you have no rights! Period! You hav no rights for a job, state funds I.E. Food Stamps etc! I mean 9.9% off illegal immigrant's can't even speak the English language!! Thank god someone is willing to put a stop to this!

What is sad, for example is that Director Bob Clark (A Christmas Story) and his son, Ariel Hanrath-Clark, 22, were killed in a head-on automobile collision on the Pacific Coast Highway in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles on the morning of April 4, 2007.Police determined that the SUV's driver, Hector Velazquez-Nava, had a blood alcohol level of three times the legal limit and was driving without a license. He initially pleaded not guilty to two counts of gross vehicular manslaughter, but changed his plea to no contest in August. On October 12, 2007, Velasquez-Nava was sentenced to six years in prison under the terms of a plea agreement. In addition, he may face deportation to his native Mexico, as he entered and was living in the United States "ILLEGALLY"!!

"racist, haters, blah, blah, blah". It's the only argument you have to support the lawbreakers. We want our laws enforced and it has nothing to do with race or ethnicity. Thank God for guys like Joe Arpaio that ignores your bulls**t and enforces the law as it should be. In the coming months it will only get better or from your perspective, worse. :-) There will be more laws and more enforcement.

After teaching 20 years in Dallas, I was pushed into retirement because I only speak English and the poor illegal immigrants' children have to be taught in Spanish. We cannot save all the poor people of the world. The citizens of Arizona are extremely blessed that your state government is doing something about the problem. And have the poor illegal alien mothers ever heard of birth control?They cannot afford to feed themselves but will have one anchor baby after another. I'm fed up. What ever happened to zero population growth? This article is crap and I'm sick of the bleeding heart liberals trying to shove this sh_t down my throat.

"It's worse because here there is a statewide effort. The state Legislature is involved, the executive branch � the governor � is complicit, and at the local level, the worst in the country has to be the Maricopa County sheriff and county attorney, who are abusing their power to harass, intimidate, and create fear in the hearts of dark-skinned people," he says."

It's probably true that dark skinned people are more commonly affected, but it's only because the vast majority of illegal aliens in the county are dark skinned. As long as the sheriff treats all of the persons he arrests the same under the law, this cannot be turned into racial profiling issue. This is just another disgusting attempt to unfairly interject race into the illegal immigration situation.

Daniela and her family live in fear because that's what they chose. Once they broke the law, they knew that they would have to always watch their back because they don't belong here. I have no pity for lawbreakers. They subject their own children to living in fear and, if they are deported, they need to take their children with them. They can have that life. I would not enter a country illegally because I would not want to live in fear all the time. I would try to make life better for myself and for my family where I belong. At least we would lead an honest life and that is far better than living in fear where I don't belong.

Wow, that is all I am going to say about these negative vicious comments about this poor lady. Now I work at a 95% Hispanic population elementary school in the heart of the illegal immagrants heck some of my students may be illegal, but that does not make me hate them and wish they would get deported. I would rather work with these poor-stricken students than with your snotty, rude, get everythin I want middle-class and upper-class students. I have a student that is 10 years old and has no mother or father because they are being detained at this moment (whatever that means) so he lives in foster homes. How would you like your life right now if you were that kid? The next generation is growing up learning that HATE is the best way to get through life. We HATE the illegal immigrants (get a life), we HATE the President (Can you do better?), we HATE, we HATE, and we HATE. I think society looks and searches for things and ideas to HATE just because we love to HATE and complain. Now these immigrants are not criminals. The druggies, murderers, theives are criminals and these young Mexican mothers that have done no harm to anyone are put in the same place as these American citizens that are the true criminals of the world. If you were raised in Mexico and had a hard life making money you cannot tell me and the rest of the world that you would not do the same thing by trying to live a better life. Who the hell is going to do your landscaping or just mow your damn lawn because you are too lazy to do it? I can tell you nobody. Who is going to make sure the $500 hotel room you sleep in is immaculate and clean when these immigrants are deported? Not an American citizen. Who is going to hand you your fatty Big Mac on your lunch break from your luxorious office job? Do you get my drift? These "illegal" immigrants work harder than you and I will ever in our lives, because they want and need a better life for their children who live in a trailer with 7 people. Maybe you should all take a better look at how and what these immigrants live in before you try to HATE them. Try meeting one of these wonderful people that are just as normal as you and I...maybe not you. These children cry because they will not have a Christmas, their stomachs hurts and they cannot go to the doctor and they die because the cancer spread(true story they had no insurance), their parents are deported and have to live in a group home where they cannot act like a kid, and they live a filthy shack in Phoenix next door to a gang that tag the city streets. But you know what I am only one person that does not HATE everything about my life like most people so what do I know? Lets try to ACCEPT the world and what it has to offer instead of using our one life to HATE everything that passes us by.

Doe anybody cringe in horror at the thought of a younjg mother smuggling an 8 month old infant across the border. WHAT WAS SHE THINKING???That is such btalatamntly horrific act of child endangerment it blows my mind. If it were an American citizen committing such an inexcusable act, I would call for a prison sentence as punishment. Why am I suppose to ooze pity when an illegal alien does it?

This extreme debate we see in the comment pages is exactly what is not letting us see the big picture. Arizona has always been a state of immigrants, since the miner workers in Clifton/Morenci a century ago, to the farm workers in Yuma who pick up more than 90% of the crops in the southwest of our nation. Illegal immigration is not a new problem, but if you base the solution to this issue solely on deportation, the very fabric of American humanitarianism and forefront example of civil liberties will be tampered not o have only domestically, but in the eyes of the whole world.

For those �Mexican Americans� that have written that their parents came here legally, I am glad they did, and that now you can enjoy of the decisions that your parents or grandparents made a long time ago. But next time you get pulled over because you LOOK EXACTLY LIKE THOSE WETBACKS you so much despite, you will start thinking on the ongoing anti-Hispanic sentiment growing in these nation for close-minded folks like you.I don�t support illegal immigration, and I would like to stop it today, but I also don� support the ignorance, racism, classism and xenophobic rhetoric that some of you show in your words. The future of our nation will be decided on the way we treat the world and those within our borders. And as the American economy shrinks and the European block flourishes, the example that we once set in the world, as a democracy that embraces foreigners and that understands the struggles of those who are not part of a �host group� but rather a minority, we will either prevail making real solutions to problems, and stopping ourselves from the ignorance injected by nativist activist, or we will fall like that old government we once considered the biggest and fairest, the Roman Empire.

Man, the author of this piece musta got a hernia or some pulled muscles slapping on all this liberal spin. Put the blame right square where it belongs: Her irresponsibleand illegal parents for dragging her here and putting her in this position/situationin the first place. All of a sudden we have a new class of "victims." Her foolishand inconsiderate parents KNEW it was against OUR laws, and a violation of OUR sovereignty, and chose to go for it anyway. I didn't bring her here. You didn't bringher here. Her assinine, arrogant, "entitled" parents did. As such, the child is illegal, too. Well, solutionis real simple .... deport Paco y Maria and the child. Problem solved. Nobody said being responsible was easy or fair. I can GUARANTEE YOU that had their parents been "popped" by ICE in a workplace raid, they'd have ran like scalded rats and leftthe kid for someone else to take care of. So many illegals parents demonstrated just this same behavior when the meat packing plants were raided. Or has the author of this spin piece and the liberal pro-illegals, pro-amnesty zealots forgotten that too?

Brandy, it is most likely that your Mexican grandparents came to the U.S. between 1920-1940; that time was not so clearly a time of unity. Im sure your Mexican grandparents were forced to learn and speak English and it is not as you describe it that they "learned it and speak it with great pride." By the way, around that time (1921) Mexicans were specifically excluded from immigration restrictions. The U.S.-Mexican border remained open. No paperwork to fill out just hope on the train and you were here. WOW!!! that was easy and LEGAL!

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According to the dictionary, an American is "a Native or Inhabitant of the Western Hemisphere" which includes people from South and North America and not only people from the United States. So PLEASE stop calling yourself Americans. Im a real American; more "American" than anyone else. I am a proud Native American!

darlene,loved your piece on the mexican constitution.i now understand why poverty is so prevalent in mexico.since when did mexico become an economic powerhouse,last i knew they,re economy was still considered third world.enough about that.boy talk about your modern day "grapes of wrath" for those of you to young to remember,it,s a true story of hard working mid-western farmers fleeing from the raveges of the dust bowl era,heading for california to find work.and being stopped at the calif. border,and the abuses they endured once they got there.woody guthrie told a story of three hungry dogs who come upon a chunk of meat,for this story we,ll call one dog pro-american,the other dog pro-immigrant,the third dog we,ll call big business.the first two dogs get into a knock-down drag out fight.when the fight is over they,re both so beat and bloody niether one can stop the third dog from taking the chunk of meat.big business created this problem,not the man on the street.if you don,t believe me look at who opposed prop.100.wake up folks when this law is enacted and if it,s enforced,business is going to increase the cost of everything and laugh at you all the way to the bank,and the worker on the street will still be part of the 40,000,000 million americans who have no health ins. .which every think tank conservative or liberal agree is the major cause of our failed health care system,not the illegal immigrant.have you ever recieved a call from a tele-marketer and wondered where they were calling from?this past christmas how many toys did you find made in america?how many good american,s drive honda,s,toyota,s,kia,s,bmw,s,mercedes?even if those car,s are made in america the corporate profits go back to they,re respective countries.a lot of police force,s in this country use india@pakistan to handle they,re 911 switchboards.today the argument is over the blue collar worker,but if your part of the white collar world and your job requires the use of a computer or telephone just remember computers like cash does noy reconize national borders.just ask bill gates.but i,m sure the bigots will find a way to blame the mexican for this.of course this is just my opinion and i could be wrong.

When is the press going to quit sugar coating these issues. All I read are statment like immagrents, undocumented workers ect. Why can't you tell it like it is. These are illegal alians that have broken out immagration laws to be here. It's ironic that the ones going back have to obtain birth certificats and passports to get back into their own country.

Illegal aliens see America as a land of chumps. Well, maybe that was the case for a while, but it's being reversed now.

Illegal aliens made a choice, and things aren't going their way lately. It's only gonna get worse for illegal aliens. They would be best advised to leave, leave now, and take their kids with them so they don't have to whine about being separated from "family" (or babies that they purposefully traveled to America to have, using Emergency room services in hospitals to help them along.)

Let's see what the Mexican Constitution says:The Mexican constitution expressly forbids non-citizens to participate in the country's political life. Non-citizens are forbidden to participate in demonstrations or express opinions in public about domestic politics. Article 9 states, "only citizens of the Republic may do so to take part in the political affairs of the country." Article 33 is unambiguous: "Foreigners may not in any way participate in the political affairs of the country."

The Mexican constitution denies fundamental property rights to foreigners. If foreigners wish to have certain property rights, they must renounce the protection of their own governments or risk confiscation. Foreigners are forbidden to own land in Mexico within 100 kilometers of land borders or within 50 kilometers of the coast. Article 27 states,

"Only Mexicans by birth or naturalization and Mexican companies have the right to acquire ownership of lands, waters, and their appurtenances, or to obtain concessions for the exploitation of mines or of waters. The State may grant the same right to foreigners, provided they agree before the Ministry of Foreign Relations to consider themselves as nationals in respect to such property, and bind themselves not to invoke the protection of their governments in matters relating thereunto; under penalty, in case of noncompliance with this agreement, of forfeiture of the property acquired to the Nation. Under no circumstances may foreigners acquire direct ownership of lands or waters within a zone of one hundred kilometers along the frontiers and of fifty kilometers along the shores of the country." (Emphasis added)

The Mexican constitution denies equal employment rights to immigrants, even legal ones, in the public sector. Article 32: "Mexicans shall have priority over foreigners under equality of circumstances for all classes of concessions and for all employment, positions, or commissions of the Government in which the status of citizenship is not indispensable. In time of peace no foreigner can serve in the Army nor in the police or public security forces."

The Mexican constitution guarantees that immigrants will never be treated as real Mexican citizens, even if they are legally naturalized. Article 32 bans foreigners, immigrants, and even naturalized citizens of Mexico from serving as military officers, Mexican-flagged ship and airline crew, and chiefs of seaports and airports:

"In order to belong to the National Navy or the Air Force, and to discharge any office or commission, it is required to be a Mexican by birth. This same status is indispensable for captains, pilots, masters, engineers, mechanics, and in general, for all personnel of the crew of any vessel or airship protected by the Mexican merchant flag or insignia. It is also necessary to be Mexican by birth to discharge the position of captain of the port and all services of practique and airport commandant, as well as all functions of customs agent in the Republic."

An immigrant who becomes a naturalized Mexican citizen can be stripped of his Mexican citizenship if he lives again in the country of his origin for more than five years, under Article 37. Mexican-born citizens risk no such loss.

The president of Mexico, like the president of the United States, constitutionally must be a citizen by birth, but Article 82 of the Mexican constitution mandates that the president's parents also be Mexican-born citizens, thus according secondary status to Mexican-born citizens born of immigrants.

The Mexican constitution forbids immigrants and naturalized citizens to become members of the clergy. Article 130 says, "To practice the ministry of any denomination in the United Mexican States it is necessary to be a Mexican by birth."

The Mexican constitution provides the right of private individuals to make citizen's arrests. Article 16 states, "in cases of flagrante delicto, any person may arrest the offender and his accomplices, turning them over without delay to the nearest authorities." Therefore, the Mexican constitution appears to grant Mexican citizens the right to arrest illegal aliens and hand them over to police for prosecution.

The Mexican constitution states that foreigners may be expelled for any reason and without due process. According to Article 33, "the Federal Executive shall have the exclusive power to compel any foreigner whose remaining he may deem inexpedient to abandon the national territory immediately and without the necessity of previous legal action."

Notional policy options

Mexico and the United States have much to learn from one another's laws and practices on immigration and naturalization. A study of the immigration and citizenship portions of the Mexican constitution leads to a search for new policy options to find a fair and equitable solution to the immigration problem in the United States.

Two contrary options would require reciprocity, while doing the utmost to harmonize U.S.-Mexican relations:

1. Mexico should amend its constitution to guarantee immigrants to Mexico the same rights it demands the United States give to immigrants from Mexico; or

2. The United States should impose the same restrictions on Mexican immigrants that Mexico imposes on American immigrants.

These options are only notional, of course. They are intended only to help push the immigration debate in a more sensible direction. They simply illustrate the hypocrisy of the Mexican government's current immigration demands on the United States - as well as the emptiness of most Democrat and Republican proposals for immigration reform.

Mexico certainly has every right to control who enters its borders, and to expel foreigners who break its laws. The Mexican constitution is designed to give the strongest protections possible to the country's national security. Mexico's internal immigration policy is Mexico's business.

However, since Mexican political leaders from the ruling party and the opposition have been demanding that the United States ignore, alter or abolish its own immigration laws, they have opened their own internal affairs to American scrutiny. The time has come to examine Mexico's own glass house.

Palm trees don't grow all across America, only in certain climate zones. Nobody "deserves" to be abused, that is sick and twisted. That has not even been brought up here, except by you. Quit projecting.

All we ever hear as a solution from the anti-immigrant crowd is to "just go home." I wish this problem was that easy. The problem is people who continue to employ illegals, including your neighbors who hire the day laborer to trim the palm trees. Not just here, but all across the country. Until we have comprehensive employer sanctions, the problem will remain.

As far as immigrant on immigrant violence, it is here and it is real. We must deal with it. In a perfect world we wouldn't have the problem. But to say a fellow human being "deserves" to be abused because they are here illegaly is really cold hearted.

I am not pro-immigrant, we just need a solution to a problem which has been growing in the past 10 years.